Questions for Mineral County commissioner candidates
Thursday, May 01 2008 @ 02:10 PM MDT
Contributed by: Admin
by John Q. Murray
The Clark Fork Chronicle will sponsor a candidate forum Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the St. Regis Community Center. Three candidates for Mineral County commissioner--Curtis Cochran, Glenn Ferren, and Duane Simons--will respond to questions prepared by the Chronicle and by the audience.
Each candidate will offer an opening statement, then the candidates will take turns responding to prepared questions and questions submitted by the audience. The candidates will then offer a closing statement.
Each candidate gets three minutes for each question, selecting the first candidate at random. On each new question, another candidate will answer first so that every candidate gets a chance to respond first and last.
If a candidate is criticized by name, or his position on an issue is characterized by someone else, the moderator will give that candidate 30 seconds for a rebuttal or clarification.
At the beginning of the session, the moderator will solicit and accept written questions from the audience, which the moderator will scan through to make sure they apply to all candidates equally and do not criticize or target any one particular candidate or party. The moderator will prioritize the questions and may edit them to ensure that they are directed at all candidates and fair to all.
The questions are as follows:
Opening statement: Please tell us a little bit about yourself, where you live in Mineral County, your experience, and why you are interested in running for commissioner.
1. What do you see as the top issues facing the county and which of those would be your top priorities if elected commissioner?
2. Growth: Missoula County is asking subdivision developers to pay impact fees to help fund increased costs for roads, schools, and public safety. For example, a study for Frenchtown Fire shows that they can ask for $2,000 per average family home. Should Mineral County seek impact fees?
3. Wildlife/wolves: Studies show that Montana has a high quality of life, and a large part of that is because we have ample wildlife. There are two major threats to wildlife right now: the loss of movement areas to subdivision development, and a dramatic spike in the population of a major predator, wolves. Should we recognize and preserve movement areas for wildlife, and what are your views on wolf management?
4. Budget: Mineral County schools and roads have in the past received 25 percent of all federal receipts from timber sales on Forest Service land. That money has been declining for years, and in 2000 the federal government started providing guaranteed payments of $750,000 per year, but now that money may also go away. Fuel prices and the county's costs for our road department and law enforcement are increasing. With declining revenues from our federal lands, and increasing costs of services, what can and should the county do to balance the budget? [Possible followup: Say you were faced with the choice of increasing property taxes or creating a sales tax district (much like the St. Regis resort area) that would let I-90 travelers help pay for county services. Would you choose increased property taxes or a sales tax district?]
5. RS2477: Snowmobiles and off-road vehicles (OHVs/ATVs) are an important draw bringing visitors to the West End. But the recent trend by the Forest Service seems to be to close roads and restrict access to the backcountry. One option used by some counties in the West is to use RS2477 to claim the roads as county roads. Should Mineral County use RS2477 to keep some roads open?
6. Plum Creek: Plum Creek is Mineral County's largest private landowner and is starting to sell its holdings as residential subdivisions. Plum Creek and the Forest Service have been negotiating for 18 months to secure easements. Mark Rey, the undersecretary who oversees the Forest Service, recently asked county commissioners for their ideas on that process. Do you think the public and/or the county commissioners should be more involved? More broadly, because Plum Creek owns so much land, should the county be meeting with Plum Creek regularly to get an idea of their future plans in Mineral County?
7. The proposed Mineral County Growth Policy calls for zoning for Alberton and Superior. What are your thoughts on zoning?
[Additional questions from the crowd]
Closing statements. Please add any other comments you wish to make at this time, addressing or clarifying any of your other responses, and summarizing why you are seeking our vote for Mineral County commissioner.
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The Clark Fork Chronicle will sponsor a candidate forum Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the St. Regis Community Center. Three candidates for Mineral County commissioner--Curtis Cochran, Glenn Ferren, and Duane Simons--will respond to questions prepared by the Chronicle and by the audience.
Each candidate will offer an opening statement, then the candidates will take turns responding to prepared questions and questions submitted by the audience. The candidates will then offer a closing statement.
Each candidate gets three minutes for each question, selecting the first candidate at random. On each new question, another candidate will answer first so that every candidate gets a chance to respond first and last.
If a candidate is criticized by name, or his position on an issue is characterized by someone else, the moderator will give that candidate 30 seconds for a rebuttal or clarification.
At the beginning of the session, the moderator will solicit and accept written questions from the audience, which the moderator will scan through to make sure they apply to all candidates equally and do not criticize or target any one particular candidate or party. The moderator will prioritize the questions and may edit them to ensure that they are directed at all candidates and fair to all.
The questions are as follows:
Opening statement: Please tell us a little bit about yourself, where you live in Mineral County, your experience, and why you are interested in running for commissioner.
1. What do you see as the top issues facing the county and which of those would be your top priorities if elected commissioner?
2. Growth: Missoula County is asking subdivision developers to pay impact fees to help fund increased costs for roads, schools, and public safety. For example, a study for Frenchtown Fire shows that they can ask for $2,000 per average family home. Should Mineral County seek impact fees?
3. Wildlife/wolves: Studies show that Montana has a high quality of life, and a large part of that is because we have ample wildlife. There are two major threats to wildlife right now: the loss of movement areas to subdivision development, and a dramatic spike in the population of a major predator, wolves. Should we recognize and preserve movement areas for wildlife, and what are your views on wolf management?
4. Budget: Mineral County schools and roads have in the past received 25 percent of all federal receipts from timber sales on Forest Service land. That money has been declining for years, and in 2000 the federal government started providing guaranteed payments of $750,000 per year, but now that money may also go away. Fuel prices and the county's costs for our road department and law enforcement are increasing. With declining revenues from our federal lands, and increasing costs of services, what can and should the county do to balance the budget? [Possible followup: Say you were faced with the choice of increasing property taxes or creating a sales tax district (much like the St. Regis resort area) that would let I-90 travelers help pay for county services. Would you choose increased property taxes or a sales tax district?]
5. RS2477: Snowmobiles and off-road vehicles (OHVs/ATVs) are an important draw bringing visitors to the West End. But the recent trend by the Forest Service seems to be to close roads and restrict access to the backcountry. One option used by some counties in the West is to use RS2477 to claim the roads as county roads. Should Mineral County use RS2477 to keep some roads open?
6. Plum Creek: Plum Creek is Mineral County's largest private landowner and is starting to sell its holdings as residential subdivisions. Plum Creek and the Forest Service have been negotiating for 18 months to secure easements. Mark Rey, the undersecretary who oversees the Forest Service, recently asked county commissioners for their ideas on that process. Do you think the public and/or the county commissioners should be more involved? More broadly, because Plum Creek owns so much land, should the county be meeting with Plum Creek regularly to get an idea of their future plans in Mineral County?
7. The proposed Mineral County Growth Policy calls for zoning for Alberton and Superior. What are your thoughts on zoning?
[Additional questions from the crowd]
Closing statements. Please add any other comments you wish to make at this time, addressing or clarifying any of your other responses, and summarizing why you are seeking our vote for Mineral County commissioner.
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